On Monday, just before London moved into Tier 3 and tourist attractions (as well as cafes and restaurants) closed down again, I made it to the British Museum for this very interesting exhibition.
What struck me most was how spiritual the people living in the arctic are. They are resourceful, and when they kill, they pray and give thanks for the animal giving up its life for them. They believe animals have souls and their ceremony releases that soul. They do not kill needlessly, but use every part of the animal for food, clothing, hunting gear, and many other things.
On display are coats, boots, both adult and childrens’ wear, ceremonial costumes, hunting harpoons, scrapers, boats, baskets and musical instruments, mainly drums. There is a Shaman’s outfit, headdresses, and models of their summer festival, the yhyakh, which I found so fascinating that I had to buy a book about it.
There are several videos, including making of boots from raw materials, cooking and the summer festival.
Climate change is having a devastating effect on the people. They have, of course, experienced climate change before but over a much slower rate and longer period of time. Now everything is happening fast as we humans make our mark on the world, not in a good way. Even here plastic can be found. I read recently of how depressed some communities are as they watch their ice melting in front of their eyes. Their whole way of life is being changed and there is nothing they can do about it.
And here there a reminders of this change – maps showing how much ice has been lost, and what is predicted for the future, and that in eighty years from now there will be no more ice. This is a frightening thought because this will also have an impact on everyone, maybe not for us, but maybe for our children and certainly our grandchildren.
A very worthwhile exhibition. Hopefully, this exhibition will reopen again soon, but you may be able to catch part of it through the British Museum website.
My London+ 